


Different

by Onlymostydead



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Food, Friendship, Gen, Post-Game, Pre-Botw 2, haircut, soft angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-23 18:32:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19707076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onlymostydead/pseuds/Onlymostydead
Summary: Nothing is the same after the calamity - not Link, not anywhere in Hyrule, not even Zelda.And it's time she looks it.





	Different

**Author's Note:**

> I mean... I might write something else with this premise, but I had to do this. Self-cut hair is like, my thing.

Everything was different.

What an obvious statement. It sounded so silly pointed out like that. Zelda knew everything was different; she had been watching over the last hundred years as Hyrule had changed, as it molded itself into what it had become today. It was an odd thing, she supposed, watching a land she once knew so well become so foreign to her. Places like Kakariko were much the same, but others?

Everything kept changing.

She watched it all get cut down.

Goron City was completely different, the eruptions from the volcanoes completely changing the landscape, other than the great Death Mountain, which just increased in size. The town, like most, became... Smaller. Almost quaint, with its little shops displaying their wares, kids rolling around in the streets.

Earthquakes were the cause of the fall for Gerudo Town, but the new much resembles the old... The only difference is the mindset. Back then, the Gerudo often lived out their whole lives in the desert, completely at peace with that fact. They loved where they were from, they loved their people, their town, everything. But now... The walls, the heat, the pressure of the calamity made it all stifling, and many sought to travel, to leave. It wasn't bad, entirely, but they lacked strong leadership, a strong chief. Riju was doing her best, but she was young. The job never should have fallen to her alone in the first place.

Rito Village crashed and burned in the Calamity, coming down in flames. It was once a sprawling city of bridges and towers, and now? It was reduced to a tourist trap, advertising their bowmen's skills and their women's singing. Compared to what a hub of activity it was before, both in the air and on the ground... It was sad. Truly sad. 

And Zora's Domain... The change wasn't so much physical. The Domain flooded, but the flooding didn't cause permanent damage to structures. People died. Hardships were had. Hearts were hardened. Social structures twisted. That was the change that came out of the calamity; a hardness that was never there before. The Zora were open, peaceful, loving, but now?

Now?

All of them needed guidance. If the champions could see them now...

Goron City had become weak.

Gerudo Town had gotten lost.

Rito Village was humbled.

Zora's Domain had grown cruel.

And Hyrule Castle...

As Zelda walked, she took a glance back over her shoulder. She could still see it, there, in the distance. The structure was broken down, destroyed in some areas, faded in others, infested by monsters. A sickening sensation took over her stomach.

That was her home. That, there? She grew up there, as a little girl. She got in trouble for climbing the ramparts. She sat in the windows and looked out over the town. 

She was trapped there for a hundred years. Imprisoned. Tortured. Imprisoning. Torturing. Holding back Calamity Ganon. Thinking about all that was lost.

The town... There wasn't even anything left. She couldn't even say anything about it.

Castle Town was dead.

Everything, everything was different. This wasn't the world she grew up in, the world she tried to save a hundred years ago. It was an entirely different Hyrule, and-

"You okay?" Link signed, waving a hand in front of her face to catch her attention. "You're zoning out, there."

"Yeah, just... Just tired."

He nodded. "There's a stable coming up here, don't worry. There'll be warm beds to sleep in."

It was getting a little chilly, she realized. It was a little startling, actually. After so long trapped in there, not feeling much of anything but pain, just feeling the wind on her shoulders was odd. The hair rubbing against her back. The soft fabric of her white dress.

If she never had to see this dress again, it would be too soon.

Obviously, she had an immense respect for the goddess, after all that, but... There was no way. This was over. This whole phase of her life was...

Everything really had changed; even herself.

And there was no way, after all that, she was spending more time than necessary in clothing meant to honor the goddess. She was sick and tired of it. When she took it off for the last time, she was burning it.

...but, by the time they reached the stable, Zelda barely had the energy to slip off her necklace before crashing in bed.

***

The next morning, Zelda stared at herself in the little stable mirror. Link had gone out with just a bow and some arrows to catch something for breakfast, leaving her behind to get some rest. 

And, conveniently, leaving behind his satchel. 

She gave herself one more look over in the mirror wearing the dress, though. This was what defined her for so long. Who would she be without it? Once she finally stepped out of the shadow of her mother, or the sacred sealing power?

She was a scientist, she reminded herself. A mechanic. A guardian expert in her own right. And maybe the world didn't need those things anymore, but...

If they didn't, she would figure out who she was without them. 

She wasn't afraid of living without definitions.

Stepping back behind the modesty divider, and grabbing Link's bag, she began rooting through for clothes. Some of the items in there were... Questionable at best, but she laid them aside to ask Link about later. She was sure the traditional Gerudo vai costume had an interesting story, and that the fish hat did too. But, eventually she found a set of sturdy Hylian traveling clothes, near the bottom of the pack.

"He must not even wear them often," Zelda muttered to herself, pulling on the pants. "Lucky we're basically the same size."

In the end they fit alright; a whole lot better than the white dress. Traveling clothes on, with trousers, and boots... She almost felt like she was at a dig with Impa and Purah again. She felt like herself again. Whole.

A little more confident, she returned to the mirror.

But something still wasn't right. Her hair, maybe? 

It was still down, like the goddess. Quickly, she worked a long strand into the crown braid that she did when she was on the go. That should have been good, but...

The images of the town's, the cities, flashed in her head. They were all broken down, changed, destroyed... There wasn't a thing in Hyrule that was the same, anymore. The Calamity changed everything.

Taking in a deep breath, Zelda marched back to Link's pack. She knew what she had to do. She saw it when she was looking through it for clothing: a Gerudo dagger. It was short, curved, and deadly in the right hands, sharp as could be.

Perfect. 

Returning once more to the mirror, she took her hair in one hand, the knife in the other, squeezed her eyes shut-

And sliced clean through.

More and more she cut off, evening it out, making it better. Making it new. It was different, that was for sure.

Everything was, after all.

***

Link's return was signaled by the smell of meat searing in the stable cook pot, along with a slew of other aromas. Hyrule herb, hearty radish, and... Was that cream? 

Zelda wandered outside to find, sure enough, Link was stirring a pot of soup, shaving off some bits of rock salt into the mix.

"It should be ready in a few-" Link's eyes went wide, his hands faltering. "You cut your hair?"

"Yeah." She shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant about it. "Just... Wanted to do something different."

He nodded, then grinned. "I like it. Give me a couple minutes, and I'll have this soup ready."

***

And when they left, with full stomachs and lighter spirits, a white dress and a whole lot of golden hair burned away in the fire.

**Author's Note:**

> Yay! Oneshot requests are open!
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr at Supertinydom or Supertinywords!
> 
> Comments are love <3


End file.
